“We might be living in the second ‘golden age’ of television, but this is also arguably the first golden age of the continuation novel, which is arguably a less impressive development. It prompts various questions, such as: Is literary publishing eating itself?”
Tag: 03.09.15
Why Do White People Dance Alone?
“If partner dancing was wobbling in the 1940s, it wasn’t until the 1950s that the couple form began to collapse altogether, when the early rumblings of the rock ‘n’ roll revolution introduced solo dances like the Twist into American youth culture. And while there exists a long documented history of solo social dances going back to rural black communities (like tap-dancing and clogging) in the United States, this was a watershed moment for white teens.”
It’s Time For Straight-To-Audio Books, Says Audible’s CEO
Don Katz: “While performances are being elevated and attuned to this advanced listening experience, why not write to the form in an original way? So it’s not just book authors. TV writers, movie writers, others are flocking in to help us get to the next stage. Which is: What is the, from the ground up, creativity that is right for this emergent private listening aesthetic?”
Applying Fay Weldon’s Advice: E-Reader Versions Of Famously Difficult Literary Classics
“With Weldon’s words in mind, we decided to bowdlerize some famously difficult blocks of text” – from Joyce, Faulkner, Proust, James, and Woolf – “to get them ready for the busy Kindle reader, in order to examine exactly how new system this might work.”
Sam Simon, 59, “Simpsons” Co-Creator And Philanthropist
“The nine-time Emmy Award-winning comedy writer and producer … served as the showrunner on the sitcom Taxi at the age of 23; wrote for and produced the comedies Cheers and The Drew Carey Show.” But he was best-known for developing, with Matt Groening and James L. Brooks, the long-running animated series that began as filler on The Tracey Ullman Show.
Knight Foundation Distributes More Millions To South Florida Arts Orgs
“The Miami-based Knight Foundation on Sunday announced $25 million in new grants to South Florida cultural organizations that include the Perez Art Museum Miami, University of Miami Frost School of Music and the new Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami, bringing its total investment in South Florida arts to $122 million since 2005.”
Why Writing By Robots Might Be Important
“Wordsmith essentially does two things. First, it ingests a bunch of structured data and analyzes it to find the interesting points, such as which players didn’t do as well as expected in a particular game. Then it weaves those insights into a human readable chunk of text. You can think of it as a highly complex form of Mad Libs — one that takes an understanding of both data and writing to create.”
English National Opera Hires New CEO Above Artistic Director
“The ENO, widely viewed as in crisis, has employed Cressida Pollock” – a management consultant from McKinsey and Co. – “as its interim head, quietly adding a new layer of authority above artistic director John Berry.”
ISIS Destroys Third Ancient Site In Three Days
“On Friday, the group razed 3,000-year old Nimrud and on Saturday, they bulldozed 2,000-year old Hatra – both UNESCO world heritage sites.” On Sunday, they reportedly went after Khorsabad, which “was constructed as a new capital of Assyria by King Sargon II shortly after he came to power in 721 BC.”
“They Want To Turn The Clocks Back To Year Zero”: Why ISIS Destroys Ancient Monuments
“Destroying some of the world’s greatest archaeological and cultural treasures is something that flows from a fanatically purist interpretation of Sunni Islam as first laid down in 7th-century Arabia and revived more than a millennium later.” (scroll down to third headline)